"Tragically I think it is quite likely and it's not something that I say lightly, but I do think there is a very serious situation and that's why I do think it's very urgent that the Minister intervenes," he said.

Earlier this month, a man who claimed to be a detainee on Nauru told the ABC that asylum seekers wanted to know why some detainees were being sent to Nauru while others were detained on the mainland.

He said detainees were hunger striking to get answers and were also protesting against living conditions on the island.

Mr Rintoul says recent hot weather has made conditions in the centre worse.

"People are still in tents, we're getting very close to the beginning of the wet season it is hotter and hotter," he said.

"The staff find it intolerable and they get access to little air-conditioned cabins, which the asylum seekers do not."